In a speech on the steps of Downing Street on Tuesday morning, the prime minister said an election was needed to "secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond".

She added: "We need a general election and we need one now."

DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS via Getty Images Theresa May said on Tuesday that she was seeking a snap election

The move was branded "an extraordinary U-turn" by Nicola Sturgeon, who said it was "a huge political miscalculation".

An election had not been due until 2020 - and May said herself repeatedly that was when the next vote would be.

1. 'There should be no general election until 2020.'

In her speech announcing her leadership bid in June 2016, May made this clear.

It was part of her three-point manifesto for why she should be Tory leader after David Cameron's resignation post-EU referendum, along with promising strong leadership and vowing to ensure that "Brexit means Brexit".

2. 'I'm not going to be calling a snap election.'

(Watch from 14:15)

Speaking in September 2016 in her first high profile interview since taking office, May told Andrew Marr that the country needed a "period of stability" following the Brexit vote.

She added: "I don't think there's a need for an election. I think the next election will be in 2020."

She said: "The country is coming together but Westminster is not. Labour have threatened to vote against the final agreement we reach. The Lib Dems have said they want to grind the business of government to a standstill. Unelected members of the House of Lords have vowed to fight us every step of the way."